South Africa’s Department of Electricity and Energy has selected four additional solar projects with a total capacity of 890 MW under the seventh bid window of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP).

Corona Solar PV Project in the North West province secured a capacity of 240 MW for a VfM of ZAR532,000 (~$31,743.76)/MWh.

The Rondebosch Solar Park and Springhaas Solar Facility 1 secured a capacity of 240 MW each, while Springhaas Solar Facility 6 secured 170 MW, with a value-for-money (VfM) price of ZAR532,990 (~$31,802.83)/MWh each. These projects are in the Free State province.

VfM is the bid tariff price used by the South African government to decide which projects offer the best value during bid evaluation.

REIPPPP is a South African initiative to increase electricity capacity through private sector investment in solar, concentrated solar, onshore wind, small hydro, landfill gas, biomass, and biogas projects.

The bid window 7 aims to develop 3.2 GW of wind and 1.8 GW of solar projects.

In August, South Africa’s power distribution company, Eskom Holdings, invited bids to offtake 291 MW of power from its solar projects. The tender is a part of Eskom’s Renewable Energy Offtake Program, which was launched to transition away from coal-based power sources.

Last December, eight solar projects were awarded preferred bidder status under REIPPPP. The projects are located in the Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State, and the North West provinces.

In June, South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy announced the preferred bidders to set up 616 MW/2,464 MWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) under the third bid window of the Independent Power Producer Procurement Program. The selected projects were Haru BESS by Scatec at the Leander substation (123 MW), Bloemhoek BESS by Mulilo at the Theseus substation (124 MW), Erfdeel BESS by Mulilo at the Everest substation (123 MW), Vanilla BESS by Mulilo at the Havard substation (123 MW), and Retreat BESS by Mulilo at the Merapi substation (123 MW).